The long, rugged Weetock Trail in the CroatanNational Forest can often become an intimidating journey for new hikers and visitors.

With the help of a determined Boy Scout troop, the trail has two new information kiosks to keep travelers informed and aware of what nature has to offer.

Led by 13-year-old BroadCreekMiddle School student Daniel Brewster, scouts from Troop 446 in CapeCarteret recently finished building trail information kiosks for the Weetock Trail. The Weetock trail is an 11-mile trail just off N.C. 58, two miles north of Stella. The service project was organized by Daniel for his requirements to gain the rank of Eagle Scout, the highest rank attainable in the Boy Scouting program of the Boy Scouts of America.

“I always go hiking and I know a lot about the trail, but I know there are people who don’t know much about it,” he said. “I wanted to change that so I thought of what I could do about trail maintenance.”

Gene Huntsman of the Carteret County Wildlife Club gave Daniel the idea to build one kiosk for each trailhead with a design from the CCWC. He used cedar shingles for the roof and Plexiglas and plywood for box. In addition to the maps and trail information inside the kiosks, the cadets of Girl Scout troop 1693 from CapeCarteret will be displaying the types of animals and plants that hikers can find on the trail.

Serving with Troop 446 for three years, Daniel said that he has learned valuable lessons about independence and responsibility through various activities and from his scoutmaster Robert Taylor. Troop 446 is chartered by Cape Carteret Presbyterian Church.

“The thing I have learned the most is leadership,” Daniel said. “The adults don’t run the meetings, the boys do. You have to plan everything and deal with things when someone gets in trouble … it really helps you with things you need later in life.”

It took Daniel and 20 other scouts 137 man-hours and several weeks to build and install the kiosks at the trail. The U.S. Forest Service and CCWC each donated the wood and Plexiglas for the project. To raise the remaining money for hardware, Daniel received pledges and ran the Croatan 24 Ultramarathon last November. He ran 52 miles along the Tideland Trails in Cedar Point over the 24 hours and his efforts raised more than $200.

“I asked people to donate money per mile,” Daniel said. “It was fun. Even if I wasn’t doing the Eagle Scout project, I still would have done it.”

With the success of the trail project and other merit activities that he will organize, Daniel feels that he is well on his way to achieving his Eagle Scout rank. Daniel’s father Rod Brewster said that is pleased with the hard work that he and the scouts donated to help promote environmental awareness.

“His mom and I are super proud of everything he’s done,” Rod said. “His project is an activity that he cares about and worked hard to make happen. We couldn’t be happier with what he did with the skills he learned in Boy Scouts.”